The Eve of Bloodshed

"This is incredible!"

With a thought, Jiang Yao disengaged the Glittering Star Stone from its fused state with his body, transforming it back into a liquid that then coalesced into Black Sphere.

"If a cosmic-level fusion with this Glittering Star Stone can unleash the power of Domain Lord, then Domain Lord- level expert fusing with Holy Star Stone should be able to unleash the combat power of a World Lord Level!" Jiang Yao exclaimed. "This Nine Star Sea is indeed mysterious and powerful. The Luoxiao Race must have accumulated countless Star Stones over billions of epochs. If a war were to break out, wouldn't the distribution of Star Stones across the board greatly increase their strength?"

In the Taihuan Token, Bajie curled his lip. "Do you think this is some kind of war in your Kasolo Empire's Sacred Land? If the Luoxiao Race were to go to war with other forces, it would definitely be Immortal Level battle. Even a Realm Lord probably wouldn't be cannon fodder."

Jiang Yao nodded with a slight chuckle, "That's true. These Glittering Star Stone and Holy Star Stone seem to have incredible effects, but in reality, from the perspective of Immortal God, they're not that precious."

Let's take a look at the power of the Holy Star Stone.

Jiang Yao looked around at the pitch-black seawater, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit. With this Glittering Star Stone, his strength had been greatly enhanced.

The deeper you go into the Nine Star Sea, the greater the pressure becomes.

Two Luoxiao Race lords (Domain Lord level) with scales on their foreheads and Tail Feathers on their backs were chasing a huge Star Beast with wing-like pectoral fins on its sides.

The eerie blue lightning occasionally illuminated a vast expanse of sea; at this depth, almost only beings at the Domain Lord level could survive and fight.

The two Luoxiao Race lords clearly had the upper hand, chasing the enormous Star Beast for tens of thousands of kilometers. The Star Beast seemed to know that it was no match for them, and did not fight back, but simply dodged the attacks of the two pursuers at an extremely fast speed.

Here, a speed of tens of kilometers per second would be far beyond the reach of any pursuer.

"Motai, this Star Beast is too fast."

"He's almost exhausted, just hang in there a little longer."

"Alas, the Holy Temple has made the Chandu Clan more and more Glittering Star Stone as tribute; otherwise, why would we risk our lives to hunt Star Beast in this deep sea?"

"We're considered lucky. The Youluan Clan suffered an internal strife, greatly weakening their strength, yet the tribute demanded by the Holy Temple is only increasing."

"I heard that the Youluan Clan lost a Holy Stone during their internal strife? I wonder if it's true."

"Of course it's true! Hey, the entire lineage of the Left Holy Lord of the Youluan Clan was almost wiped out. They say the Holy Stone was taken away by a woman..."

"Careful!"

As the two were chasing the Star Beast across an underwater canyon, a creature several thousand meters long, shaped like a worm, with no ears or eyes, and only large mouths full of sharp teeth, suddenly shot out.

Countless whiskers fluttered within the gigantic maw, making it extremely ferocious and ugly. The immense suction force caused the two Luoxiao Race lords to lose their footing and were about to be sucked into the giant maw.

"A Saint-level Star Beast!?"

"Run!"

The two Luoxiao Race lords unleashed almost all their power, and the thunderstorm illuminated a large area of the sea, but they still could not escape the suction of the giant maw.

Suddenly, a roar came rapidly from afar, followed by a powerful undercurrent that directly interfered with the giant beast's suction force, allowing the two Luoxiao Race lords to escape.

The roaring sound abruptly stopped, and a young man from the Luoxiao Race, clad in blood-red armor, appeared not far away.

"Your Holiness... uh..."

The two were about to bow when they suddenly stopped.

This newly appeared Luoxiao Race youth was not a Saint (realm lord) at all, but just a Lord (Domain Lord) like them. Moreover, the aura he exuded was clearly the same as theirs, which was the Lord's combat power that only came from fusing with the Glittering Star Stone.

A true lord can completely conceal their aura, but a lord who has achieved this through the fusion of the Glittering Star Stone cannot.

However, the speed at which this newly emerged young lord has progressed is simply too astonishing.

The two exchanged a glance and immediately prepared to flee. Facing a Saint-level Star Beast, let alone three lords, even ten lords wouldn't be of any use.

Suddenly, thousands of rays of light appeared in front of the young lord, forming a Giant Axe that slashed towards the terrifying worm-like beast that was thousands of meters long, carrying unparalleled power and law fluctuations!

"How is that possible?"

The immense power that erupted in that instant propelled the two of them thousands of meters away!

A lord who was clearly fused with the Glittering Star Stone suddenly unleashed power almost that of a top-tier saint, his powerful Origin Law sending shivers down one's spine.

With a chilling, piercing scream, a massive shockwave followed, leaving only the mangled remains of the worm-like behemoth, which then vanished in a flash of light.

Only a tiny white sphere remained, dotted with silver starlight.

"The Holy Stone!"

The two Luoxiao Race lords stared in disbelief, their gazes towards the small white sphere revealing an undisguised greed.

However, none of them dared to make any rash moves and could only obediently watch as Jiang Yao obtained the Holy Stone and stored it in his Space Ring.

That's the 105th one!

Jiang Yao's consciousness sank into the Space Ring to check it out, and he revealed a smile of great satisfaction.

That's 10.5 million points.

Once Jiang Yao fuses with the Glittering Star Stone, his strength will be able to directly leapfrog a major realm and reach the Domain Lord Ninth Stage, both in terms of Origin Force and Psychic Power.

With an 800-fold Mental Power Amplitude, he could not only easily unleash the eighth level of the Universe Divine Weapon, "Heavenly Axe Manifesting the Cosmos," but its power was also close to that of Peak World Lord. The Star Beast that had just been killed by him with two axe blows, even though it was probably at the World Lord Eighth Order.

It went even more smoothly than Jiang Yao had anticipated before coming to the Nine Star Sea.

According to the original plan, he estimated that he would need Bizhang Split Soul to control his body and use the Fusion Law at the level of the 15th level of the Heavenly Bridge to achieve such a hunting speed.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that he has mastered the Innate Secret Technique "Fire Fusion" to the second level, reaching a maximum flight speed of 180,000 kilometers per second.

Within the Nine Star Sea, his speed was reduced to only one percent, or 1800 kilometers per second, but even so, no one could match him.

His extremely high flight speed, coupled with his near- Peak World Lord strength at the eighth level of the Universe Divine Weapon, greatly increased his hunting efficiency, allowing him to collect 105 Holy Star Stone in 30 years.

It should be noted that Star Beast at the World Lord Level are far rarer than Star Beast at the Domain Lord level. In addition, the Nine Star Sea is vast and boundless, and his maximum speed has been reduced by 99%. He was already quite satisfied with this hunting speed.

The only regret is that Jiang Yao simply cannot fuse with this Sacred Star Stone.

There is only one condition for fusing with the Holy Star Stone: one must already possess the Domain Lord Ninth Stage realm. Once fused, one can gain the power of a ninth-level Domain Lord, and even the Inner World.

The Holy Star Stone itself contains a world!

However, most of the Domain Lord Ninth Stage Star Beast that fused with the Holy Star Stone were unable to perfectly control this enormous power. The gap between a Realm Lord and Domain Lord was far greater than the gap between Domain Lord and a Universe Lord. Therefore, many Star Beasts that fused with the Holy Star Stone could only exert the strength of World Lord Level Seven.

"This... this sir, thank you for saving my life."

The two Luoxiao Race lords barely suppressed their shock and stepped forward to bow respectfully, saying, "May I ask which clan you belong to, sir...?"

"No need to thank me," Jiang Yao interrupted them. "I was only doing this for the sake of the Holy Stone; it was just a small favor."

Jiang Yao was about to ask about the internal strife that the Youluan Clan had broken out in, when his expression suddenly changed. He turned to look in the direction of the Li Star Continent, both surprised and delighted. "Is he about to awaken?"

In an instant, it shot out of the sea and transformed into a streak of Flowing Light, flying towards the distant continent.

Only the two Luoxiao Race lords were left staring at each other in the sea.

After a long pause, someone finally spoke, seemingly in doubt but also confirming, "An outsider?"

"Hey, is there any other possibility? With only one Tail Feathers and no Bone Spikes on its head, can you really believe that someone of ordinary bloodline could cross a major realm and rival or even kill a Saint-level Star Beast after fusing with the Glittering Star Stone?"

"This is unbelievable, how could someone be this strong... Even those royal princes couldn't do this, right?"

"I don't know, but he's definitely one of the strongest geniuses among the outsiders!"

"Alas, the Sacred Altar will open again in 60 years, and another bloody storm is about to begin..."

"Hmph, this bloodshed might far surpass what's to come!"

"You mean... the Temple Master's order?"

"Let's report to the Holy Temple first. The Temple Master will make arrangements, and it might even lighten the tribute burden on our Chandu Clan."

Inside a colossal tower hundreds of millions of kilometers high at the center of the God Star Continent, which is surrounded by eight continents.

An Immortal Expert, clad in white robes, with three Bone Spikes on his head and seven long, dazzling Tail Feathers trailing behind him, gazed out the window with profound eyes.

"So, quite a few outsiders have already arrived?"

Kneeling beside him was a member of the Luoxiao Race, a being with three Tail Feathers and no Bone Spikes on his head, clad in black armor.

"Reporting to the Palace Master, there are only 60 years left until the opening of the Sacred Altar. Based on past experience, this is precisely the time when a large number of outsiders will arrive," the Black Armor Man replied respectfully.

"Hmph." The immortal of the Luoxiao Race, revered as the Palace Master, had seven dazzling Tail Feathers fluttering in the wind. "Then issue an order to all clans and saints on the Nine Star Continent to immediately Strangulation any disguised outsiders they discover. Disciples of the Holy Temple should also be dispatched, especially before they obtain the Glittering Star Stone."

"Glittering Star Stone are not so easy to obtain. Hunting Star Beast on the continent is too noisy and easily attracts attention. The Star Beast in the Nine Star Sea are not only more powerful, but the Nine Star Sea also exerts a strong suppressive force, which makes the Star Beast thrive. With this disparity, they are not so easy to hunt."

"Those outsiders are not particularly strong on their own, but they are, after all, top geniuses. Once they obtain the Glittering Star Stone and integrate it into their bodies, their strength will increase dramatically, like a dragon entering the sea, making them difficult to control."

The black-armored Luoxiao Race kneeling on the ground hesitated, "Lord Palace Master, these outsiders are, after all,... If there are too many casualties this time, won't the higher-ups...?"

The Palace Master smiled, his eyes filled with coldness. "Last time the Sacred Altar opened, 89 of the baptism slots for the Sky Dome Realm were filled by outsiders, while our clan only had 11 people, setting a record for the lowest number of participants. Several Divine Venerables were extremely dissatisfied."

"It's time to reclaim the prestige of my Nine Star Sea. Its history as one of the five major powers in the world of desperate missions has probably been forgotten long ago. They really think that my Nine Star Sea is a place that you can come and go as you please."

"It is precisely because the previous temple master was conservative that our clan's number of Sacred Altar Baptism has been decreasing. If one day an outsider were to obtain the inheritance... Hmph, don't worry, if they feel things have gone too far, the higher-ups will stop it. As long as no order has been given, it means the mountain has tacitly approved of my actions. Don't underestimate the determination of the five major powers to hone their core genius members."